P-O boys’ basketball stuns BEA in OT after ‘craziest game’ of coach’s career
After the final buzzer of Philipsburg-Osceola’s overtime win and after addressing his team in the visiting locker room, Mounties coach Matt Curtis could still feel his heart racing.
As he talked about P-O’s thrilling 58-55 win over Bald Eagle Area on Wednesday night, he admitted he couldn’t remember who did what for his team. It was all a blur. He was too excited.
And he didn’t anticipate that feeling would go away anytime soon.
“It’s going to be hard to get to sleep,” Curtis said. “I don’t think my heart rate’s going to drop down. My Fitbit was going crazy.”
Philipsburg-Osceola erased a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime and overcame a five-point deficit in the extra period to stun Bald Eagle Area. The Mounties received big performances from a pair of underclassmen in the wild victory during another rebuilding season for the program.
Philipsburg-Osceola sophomore Tyler Doyle hit what proved to be the game-winning free throws in overtime and scored 18 points, while freshman Ryan Whitehead added 14 points. Both made crucial plays to put their team in position to win.
Doyle swished a 3-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 in the final minute of the fourth quarter before BEA missed the final shot attempt of regulation on the next possession. The local rivals were headed to overtime after the Eagles appeared to take control in the second half. BEA built a double-digit lead in the third quarter and held a 46-37 edge going into the fourth quarter.
But P-O chipped away at the lead and turned it into a one-possession game. After BEA missed two free throws in 1-and-1 situations in the final minute of the fourth quarter, Doyle nailed the game-tying 3-pointer.
“We just got to learn to finish,” BEA coach Bill Butterworth said. “We’re just not finishing.”
The Eagles raced out to a 54-49 lead at the start of overtime, only to allow the Mounties to close the gap again. Whitehead then stepped up for the Mounties, pulling down an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw to bring his team within 54-52 with less than two minutes left. On P-O’s next possession, after BEA knocked down one free throw, Whitehead grabbed another offensive rebound and finished inside to make it a one-point game.
The freshman’s work in the paint set the stage for P-O to take the lead when Doyle was fouled going after a loose ball. The sophomore stepped to the free-throw line with 40.6 seconds left and sank both shots to give his team a 56-55 lead.
“I trust these guys,” Curtis said. “That younger group has won in the past, and I think when the game slows down and they relax, they’re very capable of hitting big shots like that.”
The Mounties held off BEA to earn the much-needed win, improving their record to 3-13.
“We’ve been waiting for wins all season. We got our first two wins right off the start,” Doyle said. “It’s awesome.”
Doyle’s heroics completed the rally for the Mounties. His teammates mobbed him after the 3-pointer at the end of regulation. They all jumped around in excitement after overtime. And the celebration continued in the visiting locker room.
“It’s crazy. Everyone’s screaming, smacking lockers,” Doyle said. “It’s awesome.”
They greeted their coach with smiles in the locker room. And Curtis couldn’t stop smiling, either.
“That’s definitely the craziest game that I’ve been a part of on the winning side,” Curtis said. “We’ve lost a couple at the buzzer the last couple years. It just feels great to come out on top of a game that’s so back and forth like that.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2018 at 11:00 PM with the headline "P-O boys’ basketball stuns BEA in OT after ‘craziest game’ of coach’s career."